Claritin Takes Aim at Reducing Pollen Levels through Female Tree Planting Initiative

Today, Energy BBDO and Claritin, the oral allergy OTC brand from Bayer, announced the launch of The DiversiTree Project, an initiative designed to help fight rising pollen levels through the planting of female trees. Many tree species have separate male and female trees, and for those species, the male trees are the ones that produce some of the pollen that causes allergy symptoms for as many as 60 million Americans. Female trees, however, do not produce any pollen and are not of allergenic concern. 

According to a 2022 study published in Nature Communications, pollen concentrations are expected to more than double by the end of this century. Claritin aims to help offset rising pollen levels by planting female trees throughout the country.

Kicking off the initiative this spring, Claritin sponsored female tree planting events in public parks and city streets to help restore botanical balance. The brand launched the Project by hosting female tree planting events in two cities ranked by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America as some of the most challenging places to live with allergies, New Orleans, LA and Richmond, VA.

“With The DiversiTree Project, Claritin is on a mission to help reduce pollen levels and restore botanical balance,” said Catherine Vennat, VP GM Upper Respiratory at Bayer. “Through female tree plantings in cities across the country, we’re aiming to help communities one tree at a time and are committed to research within the field of plant science, all with the goal of having everyone enjoy the outdoors every day”.

As part of The DiversiTree Project, the brand is conducting a study to be released on April 7th in partnership with Dan Katz, a senior research associate at the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University.  The study, funded by the makers of Claritin, examines the potential for planting low pollen trees, including female trees, to reduce airborne pollen concentrations in New York City over the next 50 years.

“There's rising interest in creating low-allergen cities. Avoiding high-pollen trees could be an important part of the solution and for some species, that means planting female trees instead of males,” stated Katz. "I look forward to working alongside Claritin to use insights from our joint study to better understand the role of tree planting in reducing allergenic pollen exposure."

The makers of Claritin are also encouraging the public to be part of the change and are partnering with The Arbor Day Foundation and its Community Canopy program to plant more female trees.